Curioussquared reads on and on in 2020

Hello everyone! I'm Natalie. I have participated in the challenge on and off over the years, and consistently over the past few years.

I'm located in Seattle, where I do communications work for a consulting firm. I get a lot of reading done during my bus commute. Otherwise, I do most of my reading curled up on the couch with my retired racing greyhounds, Skeletor and Otter, or listening to audiobooks while doing chores and walking the dogs.

I read mostly fiction, with a heavy emphasis on YA, along with some fantasy, general fiction/literature, and the occasional non-fiction title. I've been keeping track of my books read since 2008, and I have traditionally aimed for 100. In 2019, I hit a high of 140, and I think I'm going to try to reach that elusive 150 this year!

Last year I also read 50 books off of my own shelves, and I'm going to try for that same goal this year. (I'll have a thread in the ROOTs group as well where I cross-post reviews of books off my shelves.

Above are Otter and Skelly showing off their Christmas jammies :)

Here are my top 10 books of 2019, in the order in which I read them:

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
March: Book Three by John Lewis
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Early Riser by Jasper Fforde
Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Howards End by E. M. Forster
Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Books read in 2020:

January
1. Arcadia by Tom Stoppard (off my shelf)
2. Of Ice and Shadows by Audrey Coulthurst
3. Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis
4. Fireborne by Rosaria Munda
5. Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
6. The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
7. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
8. Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore
9. The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory
10. Starworld by Audrey Coulthurst and Paula Garner (off my shelf)
11. The House of the Spirits by Isabelle Allende (reread)
12. The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary
13. Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare (off my shelf)

February
14. Storm Thief by Chris Wooding (off my shelf)
15. A Dress for the Wicked by Autumn Krause
16. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (off my shelf)
17. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
18. Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
19. Thornbound by Stephanie Burgis
20. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (off my shelf)
21. How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason

March
22. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling (reread)
23. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling (reread)
24. Frankly in Love by David Yoon
25. The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
26. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
27. Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue (off my shelf)
28. Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
29. In the Woods by Tana French
30. The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson (off my shelf)
31. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling (reread)
32. The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss (off my shelf)
33. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Graberstein

Books read in 2020:

April
34. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (off my shelf)
35. Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
36. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling (reread)
37. Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory (off my shelf)
38. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins (off my shelf)
39. Paper Girls 1 by Brian K. Vaughan (off my shelf)
40. Paper Girls 2 by Brian K. Vaughan (off my shelf)
41. Paper Girls 3 by Brian K. Vaughan (off my shelf)
42. Paper Girls 4 by Brian K. Vaughan
43. Paper Girls 5 by Brian K. Vaughan
44. Paper Girls 6 by Brian K. Vaughan
45. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling (reread)
46. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (reread)
47. Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (off my shelf)
48. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green (off my shelf)
49. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (off my shelf)
50. The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White
51. All Systems Red by Martha Wells (reread)
52. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (reread)
53. Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells(reread)
54. Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (reread)
55. The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo (off my shelf)
56. The Polar Bear Explorers' Club by Alex Bell
57. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh (off my shelf)
58. Loamhedge by Brian Jacques (off my shelf)
59. We Are the Wildcats by Siobhan Vivian
60. Unlikely Friendships by Jennifer S. Holland (off my shelf)
61. Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

May
62. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling (reread)

June

Books read in 2020:

July

August

September

Books read in 2020:

October

November

December

Thread is open! Welcome, friends :)

Happy new thread! I look forward to hearing about your reading and, of course, the exploits of Skelly and Otter!

Welcome back!

Best wishes for 2020!

Happy reading in 2020, Natalie!

Happy new thread, Natalie. Skelly and Otter look so adorable in their plaid jumpers.

I love the hotel in the Morrigan Crow series so much, especially the scented relaxation room.

Happy 2020 and happy reading!

>8 foggidawn: >9 drneutron: >10 DianaNL: >11 FAMeulstee: Thanks, all!

>12 MickyFine: I will admit to taking a certain amount of pleasure in having dogs who like wearing clothes...

>13 libraryperilous: Yes! It's definitely on the list of fictional places I'd like to visit. I'm excited for the third installment in the series coming out this year!

Another resolution is to keep up in 2020 with all my friends on LT. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Natalie!

>15 PaulCranswick: >16 ronincats: Thanks, Paul and Roni!

1 book read: Arcadia by Tom Stoppard

This play follows events at the estate of Sidley Park in two timelines -- one in the early 1800s, where young Thomasina is studying mathematics and physics with her tutor, Septimus Hodge, and one in the present day, where two historians are researching a mysterious hermit who once lived at Sidley Park and the actions of Lord Byron during his visits to the estate.

This play is really interestingly done -- the two timelines run simultaneously and in the last scene, both sets of characters are on stage at the same time. I would love to see it performed someday. 4 stars.

Stoppard is an author whose wit and talent I know I'm supposed to enjoy, but I struggle to read his plays. I like reading plays, but occasionally I'll run up against a dramatist whose words I need to see performed to appreciate. I'd love to see one of his plays on stage someday, especially this one or The Real Inspector Hound.

Enjoy your 2020 reading!

>19 libraryperilous: I tried to read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead before and struggled, but found this one more accessible, surprisingly. I'm sure they still would be better performed!

>20 thornton37814: Thank you, Lori!

2 books read: Of Ice and Shadows by Audrey Coulthurst

Set directly after the events of Of Fire and Stars. Everyone thinks Princess Denna is dead, but really, she and Princess Mare are en route to Zumorda to try to find training for Denna's magic. Plus, Zumorda might also hold the key to preventing the Sonnenbornes from taking over Mare's kingdom of Mynaria. But once they get to Zumorda, everything starts to go wrong, and soon Mare and Denna are separated in a foreign country -- and unsure of where they stand with each other.

This sequel is just as fun as the first book and also successfully raises the stakes. I hadn't realized before starting the book, either, but while this is a direct sequel to Of Fire and Stars, it's also, in a way, a direct sequel to Coulthurst's other novel set in this world, Inkmistress -- and she does a really good job of weaving the stories together. My only complaint was that it felt like it wrapped up very quickly -- otherwise, a really satisfying sequel. 4 stars.

3 books read: Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis

In a world where women are the politicians and men keep to the abstract art of magic, Cassandra Harwood was famous as the first woman to attend the Great Library and practice as a magician -- until she overextends herself and is no longer able to practice magic. Humiliated, she breaks up with her fiance to save him from attaching himself to someone who is now, effectively, useless. Now, a few months later, she'll have to see him again for the first time at a week-long winter solstice party at a friend's estate, and it's bound to go poorly....

I think it was Foggidawn who read and recommended this, and I'm glad! It was the perfect quick read for a cozy winter evening. I was impressed with how much worldbuilding Burgis stuffed into such a short book, and I'm interested in learning more in the sequel. 4 stars.

>23 curioussquared: Yay! Glad you liked it.

Found and starred, Natalie! And how nice to see Skelly and Otter in their Winter finery!

Stopping by to drop a belated star. Looks like you are off to a great reading year with these four-star reads!

>24 foggidawn: Thanks again for the recommendation!

>25 mstrust: Thanks for stopping by, Jennifer! The pups enjoyed wearing their Christmas outfits, haha. I need to go find your thread!

>26 aktakukac: Thanks, Rachel! It's been a good year of reading so far ;) And I'm really enjoying my current read, too.

>22 curioussquared: That's a gorgeous cover!

>24 foggidawn: I've had this on my TBR for ages. Time to bump it up, I think.

>23 curioussquared: I got that book bullet from foggi as well, and enjoyed the sequel just as much, Natalie.
>22 curioussquared: Oh-oh, maybe a book bullet! Second one of the year--foggi just gave me my first!

Looks like your reading year is off to a great start, Natalie!

>29 ronincats: I'm resisting putting the sequel on hold immediately as I have a bunch of library books to get through, but maybe I'll reconsider that... :) I'd start with Of Fire and Stars with the Coulthurst series, but I don't think you need to read the sister novel Inkmistress before Of Ice and Shadows.

4 books read: Fireborne by Rosaria Munda

When they were children, Annie and Lee's lives changed -- Annie watched as her serf family was killed by a dragonlord, while Lee watched as his dragonlord family were killed when the peasants rose up in the bloody revolution. Both ended up in an orphanage in the slum, growing up in a new regime where everyone takes a test to be placed in a class according to their intelligence and abilities. And against all odds, both Lee and Annie end up being chosen by dragons to ride in the new fleet of guardians and protect the new regime. Both struggle with their pasts as they progress through the ranks to compete for Firstrider, commander of the dragon fleet. And neither is prepared when a new threat emerges -- maybe some of the old dragonlords escaped after all.

This beginning of a new series was exciting, compelling, and well-written -- I had trouble putting it down to take care of all my other responsibilities this week! You struggle with Lee and Annie as they strive toward their goals and try to shove away their pasts, and it was impossible to pick a side when they were inevitably pitted against each other. I can't wait for the next one! 4.5 stars.

>32 curioussquared: Middle grade or YA, Natalie?

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, Natalie.

>33 MickyFine: Definitely more YA -- the main characters are about 17-18 for most of the story.

>34 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul!

If you've been following me for a while, you'll remember that since we moved into our new house, I've been working on converting a weirdly shaped attic room into my library. It's finally pretty much done! I have space to add a few more shelves when needed, but the current shelf situation fits all of my books and allows space for a nice comfy reading chair. Here are a few photos:

The view as you enter the room:


More shelves to the right!


View from the comfy chair:


A few taller shelves. There's space for one more in the middle there if I ever need to add on :)


And the weird little side nook with a few more shelves. Please excuse the panels that are falling down, haha.


So excited to get lots of reading done here! And to have all my books in one place, of course, after having 80% of my collection living at my parents' house for so long.

>36 curioussquared: So cozy! Looks like a great space, and how nice to have all of your books together.

That room looks awesome! I hope you enjoy it for years to come.

>37 foggidawn: Thanks! Now I just need a blanket and/or one of those little portable heaters and I'll be all set.

>38 mstrust: Thanks Jennifer! If we do the renovations I'd like to on this top floor anytime soon I'll probably sacrifice part of it for a real laundry room -- but I'll enjoy it while it lasts :)

5 books read: Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Darius has never felt like he is enough -- he doesn't fit in at high school in Portland, OR, and he didn't learn Farsi as a kid, so he doesn't fit in with his Persian community, either. When his grandfather back in Iran develops a brain tumor, his parents decide to take him and his younger sister to Iran to visit for the first time. Darius doesn't know what to expect on this trip -- but he definitely knows he's nervous.

This reminded me of a younger, sweeter, and less bitter Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Darius is a compelling, relatable narrator and it was a treat to discover Iran and his family through his eyes as he makes a friend and finds his place. 4 stars.

6 books read: The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory

Freelance writer Nik is shocked (in a bad way) when the guy she's been seeing casually for a few months suddenly proposes on the jumbotron at a Dodgers game. When she says no, naturally, suddenly 45,000 people think she's the bad guy! Luckily, Carlos and his sister Angela were sitting a few rows back, and they help smuggle Nik out of the stadium before the camera crews can get to her. Nik likes Carlos, but after her proposal mishap, she's pretty sure she's ready to swear off men forever. But maybe he'd be good for a nice, casual rebound...

Guillory's books are pure fun. I love how consciously inclusive she is (Nik is black, her friends are POC, Carlos is Latino) and how hard she works to disrupt romance norms. Her characters are always eating deliciously described food (if anybody can point me in the direction of the spicy chocolate cupcake Nik's friend Courtney makes, I'd be grateful) and promoting healthy relationships and feminist businesses. And the story's great, too ;) I'll be reading more soon! 4 stars.

>36 curioussquared: Very nice! I'd love a little (or big!) book space in my house. Maybe when we finish the basement. Some day. Happy reading in your new library!

Gorgeous reading nook, and congrats on finishing it after all your hard work!

>41 curioussquared: Public proposals and that awful "reunite the returning soldier with their family" scam that companies run for marketing purposes truly are hideous. Also, if you are ready to get married, that should be a joint decision, not a proposal, and after several conversations about it, I think. Or at least a private celebration, not a public surprise.

>36 curioussquared: Nice conversion!

>32 curioussquared: >40 curioussquared: >41 curioussquared: Adding all of those to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommendations, Natalie!

>36 curioussquared: Love the room! It looks light, airy, and cozy all at the same time :)

>42 aktakukac: Thanks Rachel! It was something I never expected to have when we were looking for a house to buy, and I'm glad the one we got ended up having such a funky space I could take advantage of!

>43 libraryperilous: Thanks, Diana! Oh, I totally agree about proposals, and so did this book -- the people who thought Nik was the bad guy were all the people watching the jumbotron who had no idea that she and this guy had only been seeing each other for a few months, and instead just saw a girl rejecting a proposal for no reason on the guy's birthday.

>44 thornton37814: Thank you! :)

>45 alcottacre: Wow, got you with three! Hope you enjoy them. And thank you! It's pretty cozy, but it could probably use a blanket and/or a space heater as it's not the most well-insulated room.

Your new library space is gorgeous, even if it is currently chilly.

>47 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky :)

7 books read: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

Nina has always lead a rather solitary life -- her only family is her absentee mother, who travels the world as a photographer, and her beloved nanny Louise, who moved to be closer to her grandchildren once she had finished raising Nina. She spends most of her time at her bookstore job, which she loves, or enjoying her meticulously scheduled activities, including her competitive trivia team, occasional exercise classes, and multiple book clubs. Her life doesn't feel like it has space for anything else -- but some surprise new family members and a persistent guy might prove her wrong.

I really enjoyed this! I think many of us on LT will identify with Nina and her bookish tendencies (I particularly liked how she scheduled time for "nothing," which really meant time to read). I liked watching her grow and expand her social circle and deal with new situations. Just an overall pleasant, fun read with a satisfying conclusion. As a competitive trivia nerd (yes, I did play quizbowl in college and I do dream of being on Jeopardy), my biggest quibble is that her trivia league was total BS and I would have lodged several complaints. She should definitely find a new league ;) 4 stars.

>49 curioussquared: I did wonder about the shenanigans that went down in her trivia league! I have no experience in that arena, myself, but some of it seemed a little sketchy.

Phew! One more library book to go and then I can get back to getting some unread books off my shelves -- although I have a few more holds due to hit in the next few days...

>50 foggidawn: Totally sketchy! I've been to several different pub trivia nights in Seattle run by several different companies/groups. None of them are formatted in the style described in the book and all of them have very strict, enforceable rules -- none of this one power-hungry guys gets to do whatever he wants. I refuse to believe there isn't better trivia available in LA (both in real life and Nina's fictional world).

>52 curioussquared: I guess it had to function that way for the Grand Romantic Gesture, but I kind of hate that type of plot manipulation -- changing the way real-world things work for the sake of plot.

>49 curioussquared: You got me with this one. Sounds right up my alley, love these types of books.

>53 foggidawn: Agree! I also feel like the set-up could have worked fine but the unfairness of some of the rulings got to me. Also, I questioned her friend's choice of a train whistle for a buzzer sound -- having to take a breath and blow seems like it would take a lot longer than squeezing a rubber chicken :)

>49 curioussquared: Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy it -- it was a fun read. These types of books always get me, too :)

>49 curioussquared: Yay! I'm glad you liked it, Natalie! Having been a pub quiz host in former days I also didn't buy some of the trivia stuff going on but I enjoyed the rest of the plot so much, I let it slide.

>56 MickyFine: Yes, it definitely didn't spoil how much I enjoyed the book -- just vaguely annoyed me :)

Hi Natalie! Dropping by for a quick visit. Maybe we’ll manage a meet-up the next time I’m in Seattle. I’m guessing it’s on the cards since my husband’s brother & family live there now.

>1 curioussquared: Cute! Twins.

>36 curioussquared: That looks wonderful. I was jealous until I remembered that I’ve just acquired some more bookshelves myself.

>58 humouress: Thanks for stopping by, Nina! Yes, I'm sure we'll make it work next time you're in the area :) And hooray for bookshelf acquisition!

8 books read: Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore

It's 1879, and Annabelle Archer is finally able to convince her cousin to let her go to Oxford to study as one of the first female students. While there, she gets involved with a group of suffragists who are working to convince members of parliament to support them in their quest to amend the Married Women's Property Act and allow married women to own property in their own right. While lobbying one day, Annabelle approaches an important-looking man to try to sway him to the cause -- not knowing that he is the imperious Duke of Montgomery, a powerful and intimidating man. Soon, Annabelle finds herself caught up in events and society she never would have dreamed of...

I don't remember where I heard about this book, but it's not my normal kind of reading and I don't think I realized going into it that it's really just a straight-up romance novel. I liked the suffragist/feminist plotline, but it felt more like thin veneer over your standard romance. Some parts were enjoyable, but I got fed up with the will-they-won't-they pretty quickly. 3 stars.

>36 curioussquared: Looks great!! What a wonderful reading space.

>60 curioussquared: I have found that a number of romance novels that get billed as 'feminist' merely are pop culture's definition of feminist, not actually feminist. I also dislike romance novels that drag out the ending with artificial conflicts or suchlike.

>49 curioussquared: That one is already in the BlackHole, so I get to dodge that particular BB. Maybe next time, Natalie!

>60 curioussquared: Sounds like I can safely give that one a miss. I do hope your next read improves for you.

>61 figsfromthistle: Thanks! :) I'm super pleased to finally have it all organized.

>62 libraryperilous: Yes, that is a problem, isn't it? I think it was compounded for me since I had just read the Guillory book beforehand, and she writes ACTUAL feminist romances. Her characters are able to be in love and in relationships that are true partnerships, while also staying truly independent and strong. I guess that ask is a little more difficult in a book set in 1879, but I had higher hopes.

>63 alcottacre: Thanks for stopping by, Stasia! Phew, looks like you missed being hit on this visit.

Speaking of Jasmine Guillory....



9 books read: The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory

Maddie has always disliked her best friend Alexa's coworker Theo, ever since their first meeting when he insulted her career as a stylist. But when Maddie reluctantly attends Theo's birthday party as a favor to Alexa, she somehow finds herself driving him home afterwards, and then she's in his apartment, and then... Somehow, the two find themselves sneaking around to see each other. They strike a deal that they'll only let this thing keep happening until Alexa's upcoming wedding, which they both happen to be in -- and Alexa must not know, since she has enough going on with planning the wedding. But as they start to grow closer to each other, the upcoming deadline seems more and more undesirable...

I'm starting to fall in love with Guillory's little world! I love that her books feature favorite characters from previous installments -- and everyone just seems like so much fun! And it's nice to read another romance with a bunch of strong female characters after the disappointment of Bringing Down the Duke. 4 stars.

The Wedding Party sounds like one I would like. Added to the ever expanding wish list.

>66 fairywings: I hope you enjoy it!

10 books read: Starworld by Audrey Coulthurst and Paula Garner

Sam doesn't fit in at school. She spends most of her time trying to live with and accommodate her mom's OCD, and the rest of the time pretending she's a robot to avoid thinking about her dad, who left five years ago to move to London. Her only real outlet is occasional video games with her friend Will. Popular, pretty Zoe has lots of friends and a great boyfriend, and gets good grades and starring roles in the school plays. But her life is falling apart at home as she and her family struggle to deal with her mom's cancer and her disabled brother Jonah -- and as she struggles to find her identity as someone who was adopted. When the two girls forge an unlikely friendship over texts, they create an escape called Starworld, and they start to realize that they understand each other in a way they've never experience before.

I started out liking this book and ended up unable to put it down in the last half -- I even sacrificed some sleep! Sam and Zoe felt very real and I felt for them as they navigated some really tough situations. I wasn't expecting to get so attached, but I was crying on and off throughout the second half. Recommended! 4 stars.

11 books read: The House of the Spirits by Isabelle Allende

This is a sweeping epic that follows three generations of a Chilean family touched by magic. First there's Clara, the matriarch, who can play the piano from across the room with her mind and often knows what the future will hold, then her daughter Blanca, who infuriates her father with her devotion to a peasant boy from their country property, and finally her granddaughter Alba, who grows up as the darling of both of her grandparents amidst a revolution. There for all of it is Esteban Trueba, Clara's husband, who always wants to be in control and never quite seems to be.

This book is hard to categorize, but it's a gorgeous story. This was a re-read for me -- I read it in print several years ago, and now that it was our book club pick for February, I decided to listen to it on audio. It was a good choice -- the story was a joy to listen to, and both narrators -- they had a male one for Esteban and a female one for everyone else -- were excellent. Recommended!

This weekend is one of my favorite events of the year -- the Great Midwest Trivia Contest, hosted by my alma mater Lawrence University. It's 50 straight hours of googling for glory.

My friends and I play as an off-campus team, often with many of us in different locations across the country, but this year we have a bunch of people coming to stay with us so a lot of us are in one place! I'm excited to see them and also to sleep very little all weekend, which is one of the only times you'll hear me say that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Midwest_Trivia_Contest

>36 curioussquared: Room looks great, Natalie.

>70 curioussquared: I would love that! I am of course far more adept at British and Commonwealth trivia than the American version - believe me there is a huge difference!

Good luck, and have a great time!

>71 PaulCranswick: I believe it, Paul!

>72 mstrust: Thanks, Jennifer!

Well, for the second year in a row, our team won the whole thing! I only slept about 9 hours total between 7am on Friday and 11pm on Sunday; luckily, I had scheduled Monday off in advance because I'm getting way too old to be able to function after not sleeping all weekend. So I spent yesterday on the couch with the dogs reading :) To cap off a trivia-filled weekend, we took our visiting friends to our regular pub trivia spot last night and placed third, which is our best yet!

12 books read: The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

Desperate to move our of her ex's apartment fast, Tiffy answers an ad for a flatshare. She works days, her new roommate Leon works nights, and Tiffy gets the apartment on weekends. They literally never have to meet or see each other. It's a little weird, but Tiffy doesn't have a lot of options, so she takes it. The two start leaving each other notes around the flat -- first about things like leftovers and garbage day, then about their lives and jobs and everyday thoughts. As they get to know each other better, and they still haven't met, things get more and more weird...

I think it was Foggidawn who read this last year and got me interested, and I'm so grateful! I loved this book and its whole cast of characters. Also, pretty sure it needs to be a movie, stat -- but only if they do a good job at it, of course. If you like a quirky rom-com, definitely pick this up. 4.5 stars.

>74 curioussquared: Oh, hooray! Yes, that was one of my favorite reads of last year. Just thinking about it gives me the warm fuzzies.

>75 foggidawn: Warm and fuzzy is right :)

>74 curioussquared: aawww that sounds like so much fun Natalie. Great idea for a movie for sure.

13 books read: Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

Somehow I made it this far (including a college Shakespeare course) without reading this one! I thoroughly enjoyed Beatrice and Benedick's bickering and the rest of the story. The highlight for me was definitely Beatrice's O that I were a man! monologue. 4.5 stars.

>78 curioussquared: Oh, Beatrice and Benedick are the best! Definitely a time when a side-plot was more interesting/fun than the main event.

>78 curioussquared: Tbh, I think his talents as a comedic dramatist are underrated, if Shakespeare being underrated at all is possible.

Also, lol, I once attended an interactive performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream in Washington Square Park, and Puck stopped reciting his lines to tell me, "Great hair!" while giving my punk rock layers a quick comb with his fingers. Only in New York, amirite?

>79 foggidawn: Definitely agree!

>80 libraryperilous: LOL, seems on-brand for Puck, honestly. So good.

>78 curioussquared: Definitely my favourite of the comedies. I highly recommend the film version with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. They're great as B&B.

>78 curioussquared: I have a Shakespeare play from a gift collection on my desk at work that I'm reading at lunch. It's A Midsummer Night's Dream though. The library already owns it so it will go into the book sale when I finish it.

>82 MickyFine: That film version has been on my to-watch list FOREVER, but I always wanted to read the play first. I'm excited to finally actually watch it! I checked and it's available on Amazon Video.

>83 thornton37814: I like Midsummer Night's Dream, too. A little Shakespeare now and then is always a good idea :)

14 books read: Storm Thief by Chris Wooding

The island of Orokos is terrorized by chaos storms that can change your life in an instant -- suddenly you're in a different place, or you're left-handed, or your lungs don't work anymore. In this crazy world, Rail and Moa live as thieves serving thief mistress Anya Jacana. When their latest haul includes a mysterious artifact from the ancient civilization that built the island and its technology and trapped the residents there, Rail decides that they'll try to keep the artifact secret from their mistress and sell it to get themselves a better life. When it becomes clear that Anya Jacana did know about the artifact and expected to see it in the haul they presented, the two find themselves on the run -- first from their thief mistress, and then from other players, all who seem to want their artifact.

This book seemed interesting from the outside but it just didn't do it for me. There were a lot of cool concepts -- the chaos engine and storms, Vago the golem, the artifact that allowed them to go through walls -- but none of it seemed very fleshed out. It felt kind of like Wooding threw as many weird, interesting ideas as he could think of at the wall to see how many stuck, and only a few really stuck. It was a short book, but still felt like a slog. On the plus side, this has been on my shelf literally since 2006 so that's a very deep ROOT off the shelf. 2 stars.

15 books read: A Dress for the Wicked by Autumn Krause

In Britannia Secunda, fashion is everything -- except in the country town of Shy, where Emmaline grew up and her mother runs a pub. While most people in her town are farmers, Emmaline has always had her eye on of the Fashion House in the city, where she could follow her dreams and become a designer. But the only way to do that is to qualify for the Fashion House interview, the prestigious yearly competition where a select few girls compete in various fashion design challenges to win employment at the fashion house. So when it's announced that for the first time, the Fashion House will allow a country girl to participate in the interview, Emmy is ecstatic. It's clear the Fashion House director, Madame Jolene, isn't keen on her being there, but Emmy won't take no for an answer. But when she actually arrives at the Fashion House and the competition begins, Emmaline realizes that there's a lot more at stake than the competition, and a lot more against her than she first thought.

This book is basically alternate universe Victorian England Project Runway and I am HERE FOR IT. It's a slightly ridiculous concept, but it was so much fun. I loved every minute of it. I read Spin the Dawn, which was touted as Mulan meets Project Runway, last year and was disappointed. But this book made up for everything Spin the Dawn did wrong. 4.5 stars.

Seattle has recently set some kind of record for darkest winter ever. Or at least, it feels like it. December and January had zero sunny days -- I'm pretty sure I'm very vitamin D deficient.

I finally broke down last week and booked a few trips to see the sun! I'm headed to Disneyland with my best friend in late February and to Hawaii with my boyfriend in early March. I feel like I finally have something to look forward to! It's been a long time since I started the year without travel plans -- this time last year we were just about to leave for New Zealand.

>87 curioussquared: It's been so gloomy here lately, too! Yesterday and today we've been getting some sun for the first time in what feels like forever. But I've also booked travel to hopefully make up for the lack -- I'll be in L.A. in mid-February! Too bad our visits don't coincide.

>88 foggidawn: I know, I feel like now that I booked my trips we FINALLY got a little sun over the past few days. It's still not enough, though, so I'm excited about my trips :)

Yes, too bad we won't be there at the same time! I'm only going for a weekend -- down Friday night, back Monday afternoon -- and we've decided to be "hardcore" about our Disney trip since my friend has never been. We're going to be those people showing up before the gates open and leaving after all the rides shut down both Saturday and Sunday. All that to say I'm not sure how much visiting time I would have, so probably for the best that we don't overlap :)

>89 curioussquared: Probably true, especially since Disney isn't on my itinerary at all. Enjoy your trips!

I think I've hit a bit of a slump. This past week was a little crazy -- work travel to San Francisco, plus a lot of stuff I had to organize and lead in the office. I'm also exploring leaving my current job and I had a bunch of phone interviews this week -- none of which were the right fit, but all of which made for something of an emotional roller coaster of a week with not a lot of mental energy for reading.

We did go see Knives Out on Saturday -- I feel like I'm a little late to the party, but I LOVED it. I was smiling the whole time because I was just enjoying watching it so much.

It's Monday and I'm already tired!

Sounds like you've got a lot on your plate. You do what you feel like you can handle. The books will always be waiting when you're ready for them again. *hugs*

>92 MickyFine: Thanks! I'm thinking it might be time for some nice, comforting rereads. It doesn't help that my current audiobook is The Kite Runner; I didn't know anything about the plot going in and I had NO idea how hard it would be to listen to. I think I'm through the really difficult parts now, but it just wasn't making me want to listen!

Interviewing is the worst, but I'm sure you'll find the right job. Good luck with your search!

>93 curioussquared: Oof. The Kite Runner is a tough one. I read it only because I had season tickets to a local theatre and they were doing a production of the adaptation and I wanted to read it before I saw the play. I'm not sure I would have picked it up otherwise. Good luck finding a comfort read!

Good luck with the job search. I hope you find the right fit soon. Interviews are good practice, at any rate.

I haven't seen Knives Out, but I read a spoilery review, so I'm not in a rush. A friend who is a huge Chris Evans fan loved his performance. It sounds like the movie is a throwback to campy fun, which is a good thing to see make a comeback.

>94 mstrust: >96 libraryperilous: Thanks! Yes, I'm confident I'll find something eventually, and I'm hoping whatever comes next will offer more work/life balance -- I'm really sick of the three months of 80 hour weeks I get in the Fall in my current role.

>95 MickyFine: Yeah, I wish I'd done a little more research before starting it... Oh well, I have ~3 hours left so too late to back out now.

>96 libraryperilous: Knives Out was a little campy, but I thought it was extremely well done and well written. The campiness was more Wes Anderson-style campiness.

We saw Knives Out ad really enjoyed it.

Adding my good luck with the job searching, Natalie.

>98 ronincats: Yay, another fan :)

>99 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! Hopefully I start making more progress soon!

Apparently, there will be a sequel, or at least a follow-up featuring Daniel Craig's detective. The director posted a request for title possibilities on Twitter yesterday.

>101 libraryperilous: I saw that! As long as it has the same vibe I'm all for it.

Hi Natalie. I hadn't realised I hadn't found your thread yet this year! You've been reading some great books this year and I've added Jasmine Guillory and The Flatshare.

Sorry to hear you're in a bit of a slump - hope you find some comforting reads soon. And keeping my fingers crossed that your job search works out. Job interviews are exhausting and all the thinking and planning you have to do beforehand too.

>103 souloftherose: Thanks, Heather! I know, the pre-work is what exhausts me. For a recent application, I wrote a detailed cover letter, revised my resume to suit the position, then took a skills test, then scheduled a phone interview -- which I prepared for with a few hours of company research and practice questions -- only to learn ten minutes in that the salary was majorly below what I'm looking for. Talk about jumping through hoops!

>65 curioussquared: You got me with that BB. My local library actually has a copy of that one.

>68 curioussquared: And that one!

>70 curioussquared: That sounds fun!

>73 curioussquared: Congratulations! I hope you got caught up on your sleep.

>74 curioussquared: I already have that one in the BlackHole thanks to Foggi :)

>86 curioussquared: Too bad my local library does not have that one. It sounds like one I would enjoy!

Oh my gosh I finally finished a book.



16 books read: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Growing up in Afghanistan, Amir witnesses his best friend Hassan suffer a horrible act at the hands of bullies -- but does nothing to stop it due to his own fear, and ends up driving away Hassan as a result. As Afghanistan descends into turmoil, Amir and his father build a new life in America -- until decades later, Amir is called back to Afghanistan to make things right with Hassan's son.

I talked a little about this up-thread, but I went into this book knowing nothing about the plot (except that my mom's book club and like every other book club in the country read it in the early 2000s). This book is brutal to read at times, and I had trouble listening to the audio version -- it wasn't a particularly long book, I just didn't find myself wanting to listen because it was such a tough read. In the end I found it rewarding, but just a rough journey to get there. 4 stars.

>105 alcottacre: Thanks for stopping by, Stasia. I'm always happy to add to the black hole!

>106 curioussquared: Congrats on finishing it. Time for something fluffy, methinks!

>106 curioussquared: In the end I found it rewarding, but just a rough journey to get there. Well said. I found it a tough read as well, but worth the effort.

>108 MickyFine: Thanks! Yes, definitely time for a break.

>109 alcottacre: Agreed!

17 books read: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

After the events of A Court of Thorns and Roses, Feyre returns to the Spring court. She should feel safe -- she's back with Tamlin, and he won't let anything happen to her. But instead, she starts feeling trapped, both in her own nightmares and within the confines of the court. When Rhysand, high lord of the Night court, comes to claim the week of time she owes him as part of their bargain from the previous book, she should feel scared, but instead, the Night court comes as almost a relief. As Feyre starts to question the truths she took for granted, she starts learning more about herself -- and begins to heal.

Maas's books always feel fairly epic, and this one was no exception. This is a pretty long book, and I was still astonished at the amount of ground we covered -- so much that was presented as truth at the beginning of the book was totally upended by the end. I really enjoyed watching Feyre grow into herself and the badass she truly is -- for a long book, this was fun every step of the way. There are a few things that come across as trite, but for the most part, this was a satisfying story -- Maas knows how to give her readers what they want. 4 stars.

18 books read: Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

Jam lives in Lucille, a city where the angels have banished all monsters. Everyone is safe, and children are loved and cherished for who they are. But one night, Jam accidentally cuts herself in her mother's studio, where she sneaked in to get a look at her mother's new painting. When she bleeds on the painting, something happens, and the terrifying creature within it emerges. The creature tells her she can call it Pet, and that it has come to hunt a monster that is loose in Lucille -- despite the fact that everyone knows there aren't any monsters in Lucille.

What a strange, captivating little book! This is a short book that does a LOT in its few pages. I loved how inclusive it was and how original -- it took me a bit to get into it because the world you enter is so different yet so fully formed -- almost a sink or swim situation for the first chapter or two. Once I got into the rhythm of it, I couldn't put it down. Totally captivating -- it does contain some heavy themes, though. There are real monsters in this book. 4.5 stars.

19 books read: Thornbound by Stephanie Burgis

In this follow-up to Snowspelled, Cassandra Harwood is on the brink of finally achieving her dream of opening a school of magic specifically for women -- until she gets word the day before opening that inspectors from the Boudiccate, the governing body of women in the nation, will be coming to decide whether or not her school should be allowed to open. From that moment forward, nothing seems to go right for Cassandra, as it's clear that someone is trying to sabotage her school. Plus, she still hasn't been able to see her husband since he was whisked away on Boudiccate business right after their wedding, and she has been suffering nightmares where she is encased and suffocating from thorny vines...

I enjoyed this sequel to Snowspelled -- perhaps not quite as much as the first volume, but still very much. Looking forward to reading more of Burgis's work! 3.5 stars.

Hope the job searching is going well, Natalie. In the meantime you are at least reading your way through a fair few good books.

>114 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! The job searching has stalled a bit as I was out of town this weekend but I'm hoping to be back at it this week.

I had a great time at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure this weekend with my best friend! We spent two full days in the parks and left Sunday night utterly exhausted after walking 26,000 steps Saturday and 30,000 steps Sunday. Luckily we had taken Monday off as a travel day and even had time to get some delicious tacos before leaving LA.

The big Disney attraction was the new Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge land and especially the new Rise of the Resistance ride, which opened in January after the rest of the land had already been open for a while. Honestly, the whole experience was AMAZING, despite the fact that Rise of the Resistance broke down for a couple hours while we were in line after our boarding group was called. We decided to wait it out in line and I'm really glad we did. Totally worth it -- it's a serious feat of imagination.

The whole land makes you feel like you're in a Star Wars film -- Chewy is walking around fixing items in the park, droids roast your meat for your Ronto wrap meal. If you ask any of the Disney employees in that area where they're from, they just tell you Batu. There's an actual size Millennium Falcon, and members of the resistance run around hiding behind corners to avoid the patrolling Stormtroopers. Kylo Ren makes an appearance every once in a while, too. We also had a reservation at Oga's Cantina, the only place you can enjoy alcohol in Disneyland, while a droid DJ spins beats, including a remix of the classic cantina song. Just awesome in every way! I'll try to post a few photos later.

Wow, Galaxy's Edge sounds like a place I need to check out!

>117 drneutron: I highly recommend it!

Here are a few photos:



We bought shoulder porgs -- they have a little magnet attachment so you can walk around without them falling off!



DJ Rex spinning at Oga's Cantina.



Army of Stormtroopers in the Rise of the Resistance ride.



My little fiesta droid I created! They had all different colored body parts you could choose to put together how you liked and little hats to add.

I have read a few books lately, but I'm behind on reviews. Hopefully will catch up tomorrow or over the weekend.

20 books read: Amsterdam by Ian McEwan

In the wake of the death of a shared former lover, Molly, two old friends, Clive and Vernon, find themselves grappling with morality and mortality, as well as changes in their friendship and their reputations in the public eye.

McEwan won the Booker for this one -- I enjoyed it, but not as much as Atonement or Sweet Tooth, but maybe a bit more than On Chesil Beach. I'll definitely continue to read more of his! 3.5 stars.

Edit: Apparently I also read Black Dogs back in 2015 but I have zero recollection of it, even after reading a plot summary, so I guess that's my least favorite McEwan!

21 books read: How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason

Rory Thorne is the first princess born to her space kingdom in more than 200 years, and when she arrives, nobody's really sure what to do with her. But the vizier unearths a requirement that princesses must have naming days, and the thirteen fairies must be invited to those naming days, so they go along with it, not expecting any fairies to actually show up. Of course, they do, and they give Rory gifts. Fast forward, and Rory's world changes suddenly with the assassination of her father and another ruler, and the birth of her baby brother. It turns out another archaic rule says that even though she's older, Rory's brother is first in line to inherit the throne. When she's 16, Rory's mother reluctantly betroths her to the prince of the kingdom they've been at war with since the assassination, and Rory sets off to the prince's homeland with the vizier and her body maid, Grytt. There, they encounter a devious plot that goes much deeper than they could have imagined.

This book is REALLY hard to summarize! Let's just say that it's a total romp and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some other review described it as "Princess Bride meets Princess Leia" and I think that totally captures the vibe -- it's a fractured fairy tale space opera featuring computer hacking magic and a lot of badass girls. Read it! 4.5 stars.

>111 curioussquared: I do not think I have ever read any of Maas' books, but I know my daughter owns at least a couple of them, including A Court of Thorns and Roses. I am going to have to give them a try.

>112 curioussquared: My local library has a copy of that one. It sounds interesting.

>113 curioussquared: I went to add Snowspelled to the BlackHole only to find it was already there. I am going to have to hunt a copy down.

>116 curioussquared: Sounds like you had a great time, Natalie! The Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge land sounds awesome.

>121 curioussquared: That one is already in the BlackHole or I would add it again.

>121 curioussquared: It is VERY hard to summarize and I usually ended any attempt the same way you did. So glad you read it and loved it!

>122 alcottacre: I kind of stalled out on Maas's Throne of Glass series with a couple more books to go, but I'm enjoying the Court of Thorns and Roses series so far. I might read the rest of the ToGs eventually, but I haven't felt the need yet. They definitely feel VERY young adult, so not recommended if that's not your thing.

>123 MickyFine: I read the Amazon summary, too, and was disappointed; I think it's hard to capture the plot details as well as the pure fun of it.

>121 curioussquared: You had me at vizier. I love viziers.

Glad you had a fun trip. The Porg photo is super cute, and I'm jealous of your fiesta droid.

>119 curioussquared: Nice photos!

>120 curioussquared: I think that is a very fair assessment of his books re Black Dog, On Chesil Beach and Amsterdam and I would have placed them in the order you did.

>121 curioussquared: My hold just came in on this one, so I'll be reading it soon!

>125 libraryperilous: Lol, gotta love a good vizier.

>126 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul!

>127 foggidawn: Yay, enjoy!

I'm about halfway through Invisible Women, which explores the gender data gap -- exposing such inequities as:
- the fact that women are more likely to die in a car crash (men are more likely to BE in a car crash, but once someone is in one, a woman is more likely to die) because car companies use almost exclusively man-shaped crash test dummies
- the fact that many medical research and drug trials use only male subjects, or if they do use any female subjects, a lot of the time they don't bother to sex disaggregate their data -- despite the fact that more and more we're learning that male and female bodies react very differently to certain drugs and treatments or show different symptoms for certain diagnoses.

It's really interesting and well done, but definitely a little rough to get through, so it's taking me a little longer than expected.

In the meantime, I returned to an ultimate comfort read:



22 books read: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (illustrated edition) by J. K. Rowling

Always a fun reread, and Jim Kay's illustrations only add to it. I've read this illustrated edition of the first book once before, but even though I own the other three that are currently released, I haven't read them yet, so I'm excited to experience those illustrations too. Already halfway through book 2!

23 books read: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (illustrated edition) by J. K. Rowling

More gorgeous illustrations bring a story I know so well to life. I particularly enjoyed spotting a small illustration of a greyhound in the endpages -- apparently Jim Kay used to have one.

>124 curioussquared: I actually read a fair amount of YA, so that is not a problem for me.

We got back from a week in Hawaii (on the big island) last night. It was a great trip, Coronavirus fears aside. Since we're not really in the at-risk population, we decided to keep our travel plans. Aside from eating out in restaurants, we were pretty isolated on the island given that we stayed in private Airbnbs and mostly just hiked, snorkeled, and spent time on the beach. Now that we're home, we're self-quarantining for a few weeks so we don't pass anything we might have picked up in the airport to older family and friends. Both of our jobs are requiring us to work from home, so that makes it a lot easier.

The big news is that Tim proposed while we were in Hawaii so we are now engaged! I'm really excited and looking forward to the wedding and all the planning, even though we have no real plans yet and only the most general of timelines.

With two long flights and a week off, I had time to do some reading, too!



24 books read: Frankly in Love by David Yoon

Frank is first generation Korean-American and his parents have high expectations -- for his grades, for where he gets into college, and even for who he dates. They haven't spoken with his sister in years -- ever since she started dating a black man. When Frank starts dating a white girl at school, he knows he has to keep it secret from his parents, but his new girlfriend doesn't understand why she can't come over to his house, or why Frank has to hurry home all the time. When Frank realizes that one of his Korean family friends, Joy, is having the same issue with her relationship with her Chinese boyfriend, he hatches a crazy plan -- if he and Joy fake date, they'll please their parents and also get all the time they want to spend time with their actual significant others. It seems perfect, and for a while, it works perfectly -- but predictably, things get complicated...

This was a fun book with some interesting themes and surprising depth -- while the original fake dating premise is fun, there are several twists I didn't expect once that storyline is resolved. Enjoyable and recommended -- 4 stars.

25 books read: The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

The setting is Atlanta in the 1890s. Chinese people are few and far between -- and Jo Kuan is even more of a rarity, as a young Chinese girl born and raised in the USA among American customs and with an American accent. She lives with her "father," old Gin, an older Chinese man who has always taken care of her, in a secret basement installed by abolitionists below the home of a family who runs one of the city's newspapers. In a series of unfortunate events, Jo loses her job at a milliner's shop and also learns that the family who live in the house above may not be able to pay rent on their home for much longer if the newspaper doesn't get more subscribers. Desperate to keep their basement undiscovered, Jo secretly starts to write an advice column for the paper, to help them compete with the other local paper with an advice column. Her advice from Miss Sweetie starts to sweep the city, and the paper's popularity grows -- and Jo starts to get worried about what will happen when the city realizes all the advice is coming from a Chinese girl.

I was totally sucked into this story, even if a few parts were a little unbelievable at times. Really fun and fresh. It helps that I have a weird weakness for advice columns -- I'm a weekly reader of Slate's Dear Prudence and Ask a Manager. 4 stars.

26 books read: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

When Mma Ramotswe's father dies, she takes her inheritance and, against his better judgment, uses it to open a detective agency. While the business is a little slow to get off the ground, Mma Ramotswe is soon able to gain some traction in the community and earn a good reputation as she solves case after case.

A cute, charming little book -- I can see why it has such a big following. I enjoyed it, but probably not enough to continue the series. 3 stars.

27 books read: Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

It's 2007 and Jende is living the American dream in New York. He manages to secure a visa to leave his native Cameroon, and after a year or so of working odd jobs and driving taxis, he's able to move his young son and girlfriend to the city, too, and they're finally able to get married. His cousin helps him get a job as a chauffeur for a wealthy Wall Street banker and his family, earning what to Jende seems like a ridiculous amount of money. Life is good -- except for the little problem of papers. Jende's visa is expired, and his application for asylum is moving through the immigration courts at a glacial pace. But in the meantime, he has a working permit, his family is happy and well, and the economy is great. What could go wrong?

I loved this book -- I spent the first half getting to know Jende, his wife Neni, and all of their hopes and dreams, and then I spent the rest of it dreading what would happen when the recession hit. The whole thing is really well done -- I was invested in every character. 4.5 stars.

28 books read: Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez

In Invisible Women, Criado Perez explores the gender data gap, exposing all the ways in which we design our society only for men due to the glaring lack of data on women. She pulls examples from infrastructure, transit design, healthcare, technology, job recruiting, and more.

Notable examples include how Brazil failed entirely to account for women's needs when designing new, affordable housing and designed the homes to accommodate nuclear families only (parents and children) so that women forced to move to these homes found themselves without the free childcare they depended on from grandparents in the favelas they had moved from. Plus, women are more likely to depend on public transit than men, and for some reason, all these new homes were built a 2 hour bus ride away from the city center -- a 2 hour bus ride from jobs.

Other examples include the fact that despite the fact that it's becoming increasingly evident that women's bodies are different from men's bodies, there is still a huge lack of medical studies that 1. even include women in the first place and 2. bother to sex disaggregate their data if they do include women. This doesn't make a lot of sense, since women present symptoms very differently from men for many conditions, including heart attacks, ADD, and autism.

This lack of research on women extends to most sectors -- another example is with cars. Apparently, it is still common practice to only use male crash test dummies. Even when a "female" crash test dummy is used, it's usually just a smaller version of the male dummy -- there's no change to the shape of the dummy even though women are obviously shaped differently than men. And to make matters worse, when a company does use a "female" dummy, much of the time they only test with the female dummy in the passenger seat, as if women don't drive cars. This whole practice is literally killing women -- men are more likely to get in an accident than women in general, just due to driving practices, but when women are in accidents, they are much more likely to die in that accident than men who get in accidents.

I won't bring out more examples, even though I have plenty. Criado Perez is EXHAUSTIVE in her detailing of the many ways in which the gender data gap rears its head in our society, which I think is both this book's greatest strength and its greatest flaw. It's strikingly detailed and extremely well researched, but it's also very difficult to read -- not because the writing is bad, but because by necessity it just reads like Criado Perez listing injustice after injustice against women, page after page -- slap after slap to the face. It's horrifying, and rage-inducing, and I found myself just getting a lot angrier while reading this book. It took me a while to get through because I had to be in the right mental space to read it. 4.5 stars.

29 books read: In the Woods by Tana French

When he was twelve, Adam Ryan's two best friends disappeared in the woods near their homes. Adam was found, traumatized and with no memory of what happened, beat up and with his shoes full of somebody else's blood. Years later, Adam goes by Rob and is a member of the Dublin Murder Squad. When he and his partner Cassie volunteer for a new case, he's not expecting anything different than usual -- but it turns out a young girl is dead, right in the woods in Rob's old neighborhood, and it looks like it might be related to his friends' disappearance years ago. As Rob and Cassie dig deeper and deeper into the case with no sign of a lead, Rob struggles more and more with the past he buried and the memories he thought he didn't have.

This has been on my radar for years and I'm so glad I finally read it! So, so good. I'm not a big mystery person in general, but this was excellent and I couldn't put it down. I liked the first half better than the second, but I think that was more due to events in the book rather than writing or anything like that -- the second half was a lot more unpleasant, but just as engrossing. 4.5 stars.

Gosh, I’ve got so much to catch up on. Good luck with the job hunt and interviews. >116 curioussquared: >119 curioussquared: That sounds amazing; obviously I need to go there. And looks cute, too.

>133 curioussquared: CONGRATULATIONS!! We’re all invited for the wedding, right? He picked a good place to propose.

Congratulations Natalie, what a great place to propose.

Congrats! What a lovely photo. I hope you have a wonderful wedding, whenever it happens.

Also, kudos for being responsible re: coronavirus. I have Hawaii on my travel plans list for this year. Obviously, everything is on hold while the pandemic rages. I am a responsible global citizen. We'll have a new normal after it's over, but I hope people don't retreat further into isolationism and xenophobia.

>140 humouress: Thank you! Lol, everyone's invited!

>141 fairywings: Thank you!

>142 libraryperilous: Thank you :) Yes, here in Seattle we're at one of the US epicenters and I don't want to put anyone at risk if I don't have to. The thing I'm struggling with most is how to both responsibly socially isolate myself while also supporting my favorite small businesses and the local arts scene. So far I'm keeping my gym class membership, even though I can't see myself going to a class in the next few months, and I've ordered from my favorite local independent bookstore -- they're even doing free shipping until the end of March. Local author Ijeoma Oluo, who wrote So You Want to Talk About Race, has started a GoFundMe for local artists, and I'm looking into donating to that, too. Once we're done self-quarantining, I'll probably try to get takeout from my favorite local Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants.

>143 curioussquared: Yeah, the takeout, online orders, and cash donations to local food pantries + community services (like the arts) probably are the best things to do. And saving some money for going out and supporting local businesses when they can reopen—fingers crossed it's by this summer. Also, calling or e-mailing local, state, and federal government officials to urge them to pass relief bills. I am stuck at my dad's in a rural part of a red state, so LOL at his reps listening to what I say. I hope Seattle gets their surge under control soon. It sounds like they have been doing everything they can.

Low on the list of crises, but I feel sad for people who had fun things planned for this spring and summer: quinceañera, bar/bat mitzvah, wedding, honeymoon, golden anniversary, commencement, etc. :( Hopefully, some of them will be able to reschedule and throw an even bigger party after this is controlled. I hope businesses are being generous with refunds on cancellations, even though this is a hardship for them, too.

>144 libraryperilous: Agreed! My best friend unexpectedly went to a wedding yesterday -- her coworker had had a ton of people cancel and she had lots of open seats, so my friend figured she'd go and try to make their party a little bigger. I have another FB friend whose wedding is scheduled for early May -- she just posted that they're planning to extend their RSVP deadline to mid-April in the hopes that the situation will be a little clearer at that point. We've been invited to two weddings later in the year, one in Chicago in September and one in Minnesota in October, and I'm hoping things are less crazy by then so everyone who wants to go can go. A bunch of my extended family members had a trip to Spain planned for May, but it's been cancelled -- my grandma is just way too high-risk.

Congrats on the engagement!

Congrats! Quite exciting.

Congrats Natalie!

>146 drneutron: > 147 >148 norabelle414: Thanks everyone! :)

Adding my congratulations! And what a beautiful place to get engaged!

Congratulations on your engagement! Such exciting news to see!

>150 mstrust: >151 MickyFine: Thank you both!

Congratulations, and what a beautiful place for that memory!

>153 ronincats: Thanks, Roni!

30 books read: The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

It's 1914, and Beatrice Nash has just moved to the small village of Rye to take on the role of Latin teacher at the local school -- a somewhat unusual role for a young woman, but Beatrice has always been scholarly, doesn't plan to marry, and must support herself now that her father has passed away. In Rye, she settles into her routine, making friends with some of the local people, including medical student Hugh Grange, his cousin Daniel, a poet, and their aunt Agatha, who gets Beatrice involved in local committees. But as the shadow of war looms, everything changes quickly. Soon, the people of Rye are hosting Belgian refugees, and young men start enlisting.

I enjoyed this overall. I feel like Simonson has a particular way of writing that just makes me think, hmm, this would make a good BBC miniseries. I liked Beatrice as a character, and enjoyed all the ways in which Simonson explored women's rights (and the lack thereof) during the time period. I did feel like the plot was a little unfocused; it almost felt more like a snapshot of a particular time period than a concrete story with a beginning and end, but I liked the characters and the general feel enough not to mind. I was surprised that it had turned into a full-fledged war book by the end, given that the title suggests everything will happen before the war ;) 3.5 stars.

Quarantine is going fine. I've always worked from home 2-3 days a week so not much has changed on that front. The dogs are thrilled that we are home every day, and Otter is becoming a regular on video conference calls.

I have been cooking more since we're not going out to eat, which we probably do too much, normally. Especially since Tim always buys lunch at work and now he's home. So far, quarantine meals have included shrimp and veggie curry, roasted salmon and asparagus, and instant pot red curry lentils with chicken sausage. (I'm a big curry fan.)

I've been doing some reading and audiobook listening during twice-daily dog walks and cooking. I'm also catching up with the latest season of Brooklyn 99 and finally watching season 3 of Broadchurch, both of which are excellent.

Tonight I have plans to play some online quizbowl (nerd alert!) with some quizbowl team friends from college. Should be fun!

>156 curioussquared: I'm glad you're spirits still are high!

>155 curioussquared: I tried her other book and found her a bit too literary for my tastes.

>156 curioussquared: I bet people call to video conference just to see Otter. Is Skelly camera shy?

>156 curioussquared: I bet people call to video conference just to see Otter. Is Skelly camera shy?

Don’t know what’s happening. LT’s a bit squiffy. Must be because of the virus - too much traffic now everyone’s quarantined at home.

>158 humouress: Skelly is not camera shy, but he is less likely to be directly by my side. Otter is a velcro dog in the truest sense so if I'm working from the couch (which I know you're not really supposed to do but which I really like doing), my coworkers have come to realize that I can probably just tilt my webcam down and to the side and Otter will be curled up there, lol.

Comfort reads are hitting the spot right now.



31 books read: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (illustrated edition) by J. K. Rowling

Jim Kay is a wizard. That is all.

>161 curioussquared: The third book is a masterpiece. Who doesn't want a hippogriff or a marauder's map or a friend like Sirius? I lost interest after the series took a grimmer turn, but the first three are a delight.

I'm glad you've found something that hits the spot in this tenuous time. Fingers crossed my reread of The Perilous Gard settles my brain.

Congrats on the engagement! Comfort reading sounds great right about now. I'd reread something, but I have too many new library books to read first.

>162 libraryperilous: I hope your reread brings you comfort!

>163 aktakukac: Thank you! I have piles of unread books to read, too, but the rereads are mostly winning out right now. Oh well.

32 books read: The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss

This is more of a vignette than a novel -- it basically just follows Auri, from Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicles, as she explores her domain. I knew that going in, and enjoyed parts of it, but it still didn't really do it for me. 3 stars.

Maybe this pandemic will finally get Rothfuss to finish Doors of Stone?

>133 curioussquared: Amongst all the crap news these days - it was lovely to see some wonderful news in amongst it.

Congratulations and may I venture to add that you make a very handsome couple!

>166 PaulCranswick: Thanks so much Paul! :)

Not a ton to report in the reading department, but I succeeded in getting myself addicted to playing Stardew Valley this weekend. We'll see how much this cuts into reading time! For some reason, it's easier to focus on than books right now.

I really thought this whole self-quarantining thing would be great for my TBR pile, but instead I keep placing orders with my favorite book stores because I'm scared they'll go out of business. I can't keep up with the pace of my book buying!

Purchased so far:

- Temeraire books 7-9
- Killing Commendatore
- Paper Girls 1-3
- I Am Princess X
- This Is How You Lose the Time War
- Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts
- The Poet X
- The House in the Cerulean Sea

>169 curioussquared: Same!!!! I keep ordering books because I can't get them from the library despite the fact that I haven't read the books I DO have out from the library

>170 norabelle414: Lol. Does this count as panic buying?

>169 curioussquared: Oh, I ordered the Klune and then cancelled. I'll look forward to your review. I may order it later.

I wish I liked e-books. I am in the mood for the Wayward Children and Miss Fisher books, but I don't want to buy them in case they are duds. My mom has a decent local library with a good e-book selection that I could use.

>172 libraryperilous: I'll let you know what I think! Whenever I get to it, that is. Who knows how long it will be?

Sorry you struggle with e-books! Have you tried reading on any particular e-readers? Amazon is evil, but I don't think there's another e-reader that's quite as good as the Kindle Paperwhite, and I don't like reading e-books any other way. I've been using my local libraries almost exclusively for e-books and audiobooks probably for 5-6 years now.

>173 curioussquared: I have a Kindle Fire, so perhaps the screen is part of the problem. I miss turning real pages, and I feel like I'm reading an article instead of a book. I feel like I don't retain what I read. A friend has a Paperwhite and loves it.

>174 libraryperilous: Yeah, for me, the screen thing is huge. The Paperwhite really does mimic paper incredibly well while also offering a lighted screen. I miss turning pages, too, which is why I still read/hoard paper books as well, but I almost prefer reading on my Kindle for the really giant books -- it helped me get through Wolf Hall, for example.

>133 curioussquared: Congratulations, Natalie!!

>134 curioussquared: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the recommedation.

>135 curioussquared: >137 curioussquared: >138 curioussquared: My local library has a copy of that one. Unfortunately, that library is currently closed :(

>136 curioussquared: I have tried twice, but I just do not care for that book. I never read another in the series.

>139 curioussquared: Dodging that BB as I have already read it.

>155 curioussquared: I bought that one because I loved Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, but I still have not read it. Thanks for the reminder!

>176 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia! I hope you have plenty of books on hand to sustain you while your library is closed :D I enjoyed The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, but not enough to continue the series, so I understand. I hope you enjoy The Summer Before the War when you get to it!

>173 curioussquared: I might have to get a Paperwhite, or at least try a friend's. I'm not ready to go over to e-books, but the day might come when I have to because of eyesight or access while traveling or price or whatever. Glad to hear that the Paperwhite mimics paper so well.

I have a Kindle Paperwhite (I think) which I use for books I’ve bought. But since libraries outside the US are behind the curve, I use my iPad for books I borrow on Overdrive. It makes it easier to copy quotes across, anyway :0)

One thing about e-books - I can make the print larger and pretend I don’t need to wear glasses. (‘In denial’? What’s that?)

ETA: Ah! The Snowspelled book bullet came from you.

>179 humouress: Yes! I don't need reading glasses yet, but I'm nearsighted enough that I appreciate being able to make the font a little bigger when I take my glasses off and still be able to read when the kindle is in my lap/at arm's length.

And guilty as charged re: Snowspelled! Glad to see you enjoyed it!

I haven't been reading too much or getting anything else done the last few days! I had an interview yesterday afternoon over video -- normally it would have been an in-person interview, but for obvious reasons they moved it online. So I spent the last few days working during the day and interview prepping at night, and dealing with our broken furnace in between! We got a new furnace installed this morning, thankfully, and I think it went really well, so everything is looking a lot better today. It would be a similar role to my current job, but internally focused instead of doing work for clients, and it would focus on the parts of my current job that I really like that I don't get to do as much of since my last few promotions. Pay would be similar to my current role, hours would be better, and I'd be working with a former coworker I really admire. So, fingers crossed!

>181 curioussquared: Ooh, hope you get it!

I've found a couple of jobs to which I'm going to apply on the assumption I'd be working remotely. It's nice that some parts of the economy still are able to be online because people can work ... online.

>179 humouress: I've been wearing +1 reading glasses since junior high. My optometrist told me my passion for reading would damage my eyes earlier if I didn't. When you tell a bookworm they might not be able to read, they take it seriously!

I'm not to the stage of life where I need anything beyond +1, and I can still see to read without them, but I have noticed that I hold my phone a bit further away when checking emails.

>182 libraryperilous: Thanks! I literally JUST got an email letting me know that they're moving me to the next stage of the interview process, so I guess posting about it was good luck!

>183 curioussquared: HUZZAH!

>183 curioussquared: Yay! Good luck for the next stage. It sounds like it would really suit you.

>182 libraryperilous: I got a few +1 over the counter folding glasses and they still work for me but the last time I went to see the optometrist they increased it slightly (to 1.25?). Of course, I can rarely be bothered digging around in my handbag when I’m out if it’s for something as brief as reading a label or a menu (unless the light is really bad in a restaurant). I keep my prescription pairs at home and I do actually use them. Sometimes.

>185 humouress: Haha. Why go through the inconvenience until we absolutely have to? :)

Still not reading very much. I spent a lot of the weekend completing a writing assignment for the job interview process. I passed that stage and now have one more (I think) final interview tomorrow.

Recent quarantine cooking adventures include mushroom pea risotto, beef pasta soup, and mushroom sausage wild rice soup. (We really like soup around here, and it's almost always good weather for it in Seattle.)

I also downloaded Animal Crossing: New Horizons (let me know if you want to be friends!). I don't think I understand the game yet -- after the fast pace and consuming soothingness of Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing feels absurdly slow and I don't know if I'm doing it right. Further experimentation is needed.

I did squeeze one more book in for March!



33 books read: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

Kyle Keeley loves games. When legendary game creator Luigi Lemoncello announces a contest for local 7th graders to win a lock-in night in the new public library he designed, Kyle messes up and almost forgets to submit an essay. But somehow, he still gets chosen along with 11 other classmates. It turns out the lock-in is more than it seems, and is actually a competition to see which kid can figure out how to escape the library first -- and win glorious prizes. Kyle teams up with his friends to win and along the way plays lots of games and puzzles, learns about lots of great famous authors and books, and discovers how great the library is.

I wanted to like this more than I did. It was entertaining, but never totally absorbing. The kids seem alternately too smart and too dumb, and the literary references and puns got kind of overwhelming after a while. (This book is aimed at kids, so I wonder if just more of it would go over their heads, or would they be even more overwhelmed?) Fun concept, but maybe I was too old. 3 stars.

I can't stop ordering books from my favorite independent bookstores. This is way more books than I would buy normally! I guess I'm just glad I have the means to support independent businesses I appreciate right now.

New books on their way to me from Third Place Books and Powell's:

In Other Lands
Dread Nation
Red, White & Royal Blue
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me
A Closed and Common Orbit
The Age of Innocence
A Room with a View
The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America
Hyperbole and a Half
Hag-Seed
Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy

You're doing a good thing! No remorse!
I'm encouraging you because I've been doing the same thing.

>190 mstrust: Phew! If Jennifer says it's ok, I'm good.

>188 curioussquared: I've never had any interest to read this one, in part because it sounds like it's trying too hard. Endless pop culture references annoy me, even if they are literary ones.

>192 libraryperilous: Trying too hard is exactly the right description. Not horrible, but just... Too much.

>193 curioussquared: I had a similar reaction to Lavie Tidhar's Bookman series. Just endless references that probably were clever, but I spent too much time trying to figure out the ones I didn't get. It distracted from the book.

>181 curioussquared: Hooray for the job interview and the new furnace!

>188 curioussquared: Sounds like I enjoyed that one more than you did. I hope your next read is better for you, Natalie!

>194 libraryperilous: I will avoid those!

>195 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! It was the right reading level for light pandemic reading, at least. I have a few other books going and hopefully I'll get through one soon.

I finished another book!



34 books read: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Julia and Valentina look identical, but they're actually mirror twins. Their features are reflected in the other's face and body, even internally -- Valentina's heart is on the wrong side of her chest. They do everything together, but right now they're aimless -- jobless college dropouts living with their parents in Lake Forest, IL. But everything changes when a letter arrives for the twins from London, explaining that their aunt Elspeth, their mother's twin sister, has died, leaving the twins most of her assets, including her flat in London. The twins are shocked -- their mother hadn't spoken to her sister in years and they never met their aunt. The only stipulation is that to claim the inheritance, the twins must live in the flat for a whole year, and their parents aren't allowed to enter it for that year. Still confused, Julia and Valentina board a plane for England, unaware of everything that awaits them there...

I think the only word for this book is "weird." There are a bunch of different narrators, and at first it's hard to keep them straight or get to know them. They eventually straighten out, especially as the twins get to London and meet everyone else. But what starts as a straightforward novel quickly takes a supernatural turn, which I guess I should have expected given Niffenegger's other book, The Time Traveler's Wife. It really only gets weirder from there, and there were SEVERAL twists at the end that honestly made me like the novel a bit less. Overall, a strange, winding, sort of plotless story. 3 stars.

>197 curioussquared: Yup. I was also not a fan of that one. Although it reminds me that re-reading The Time Traveler's Wife might be fun. :)

>198 MickyFine: Ooh, a very good idea! My current reread is Harry Potter, but maybe when I'm done... :)

Have a lovely, peaceful, safe and healthy weekend, Natalie.

>200 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! It was nice and peaceful, full of dog walks, books, cooking, Animal Crossing, and puzzles :)

35 books read: Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

DJ isn't really good at anything -- except sports and farming. With her older brothers gone to college and her dad's hip leaving him with difficulty even walking, her mom taking on another job, and her younger brother Curtis busy with little league, DJ ends up taking on almost all of the work and chores on their Wisconsin dairy farm. To help, DJ's parents recruit a local boy to help with chores, but she would rather do almost anything else than work with Brian Nelson, a quarterback on the rival town football team. High school football is everything in their small community. But at the suggestion of a family friend, DJ, who trained for years with her football star brothers, offers to help Brian train for the new season. Working and training together, Brian and DJ actually start to become friends. When Brian makes an offhand comment about how he'd hate to be playing against DJ come the big came, a spark goes off in DJ's brain... what if she COULD play for her high school team?

This book was fun! It's nice to watch DJ grow, mature, and learn more about herself and her family. I'm not a football person, but I could still appreciate that part of the plot. I listened on audio, and was totally acclimated to the heavy Wisconsin accent the narrator used by the end, lol. Brought me back to my freshman year roommate, who was from Green Bay and called me "Nyatalie. Anyway, this is recommended. 4 stars.

36 books read: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Illustrated Edition, by J. K. Rowling

More quarantine rereading. I have to say, Cornelius Fudge's response to Voldemort being back at the end of the book is sort of reminiscent to our government's lackluster response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Illustrations are still gorgeous, but I have to say that with this longer novel, they felt kind of sparse. I imagine there are the same number of illustrations in this book as there were in books 1 or 2, but there were a LOT of stretches where I'd be reading and there would be 4-8 pages in a row that were noticeably bare. Not necessarily bad, just felt like a lot less compared to the earlier entries, but again, I think it was just because this book is longer. Also, it felt very very physically heavy. Book 5 is going to be a monster.

37 books read: Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory

When Maddie Forest is invited to England to style a duchess for the holidays, she insists her mother Vivian come along too -- Vivian spent so long raising Maddie on her own that she needs to learn how to take some time for herself. Vivian feels like she's been whisked into another world, staying at Sandringham and being treated like a queen. And things only get better when she meets Malcolm Hudson, the queen's private secretary, who happens to be a very handsome, very nice black man. Vivian and Malcolm start spending time with each other during Vivian's visit, and it soon becomes clear that they like each other -- but Vivian is leaving to go back to the US in just a few days.

Another fun, fluffy, woke romance from Guillory -- the perfect thing for pandemic reading. This one focuses on an older couple, which is kind of nice -- I'm not a big romance reader, but I don't think this is a demographic that gets a ton of attention. Enjoyable cotton candy. 3.5 stars.

>204 curioussquared: Hmm, I just checked and it's only 300 or so pages, so I might be able to handle it. It sounds cute! I'm not a fan of romance novels or chick lit, so if they are too long I lose interest easily.

>205 libraryperilous: It's a super fast read -- took me probably 2-3 hours, tops. I'm not a traditional romance reader, but I enjoy Guillory's books. This one is probably my least favorite of the four I've read, but it's also very different from the rest with the UK setting and the older couple.

38 books read: Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

Harper Price does everything excellently. She leads the school government, the first junior to do so, she runs every committee possible, captains the cheerleading squad, and helps run cotillion practices. At homecoming with her handsome boyfriend Ryan, she fully expects to be crowned homecoming queen. But then, a quick trip to the bathroom to reapply her lip gloss before the crowning ceremony changes everything when the school janitor -- who is totally not what he seems -- passes an ancient gift on to Harper without even asking. Turns out Harper is a Paladin, a sort of magical bodyguard charged with protecting someone nearby... but Harper has a feeling she's NOT going to be excited about who she's supposed to be protecting.

This was a fun YA romp. I got Buffy and Miss Congeniality vibes. It was a little too high school drama-y at times and I don't think I'll be continuing the series, but I liked it overall. 3.5 stars.

39 books read: Paper Girls: Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

On an early morning paper route, four twelve year-old paper girls from Cleveland, Ohio run into some weird, otherworldly happenings...

I spent most of this volume wondering what on earth was going on and getting to know the girls, and I was pretty confused for the most part, but totally involved by the cliffhanger ending. 4 stars.

40 books read: Paper Girls: Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan

The girls' adventures continue in another time as they search for KJ and keep trying to figure out what they've gotten into.

Enjoyed this one a little more than the first as a few things start to come together! 4 stars.

41 books read: Paper Girls: Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan

The girls find themselves way in the past and whoever is after them continues to chase them across time.

I think these just get better as the mystery slowly unravels. 4 stars.

A lot of work has dried up as many of our clients are focusing their efforts on navigating the COVID-19 crisis and are halting any non-essential work we were doing for them. So, I don't have a ton going on work-wise right now.

Which is probably for the best, as I officially accepted a new job offer earlier this week! I'm excited, though honestly sad to be leaving my current role -- I almost cried giving notice to my manager. I would totally stay if we didn't have the ridiculous busy season in summer/fall where I basically work 80 hour weeks non-stop for 3-4 months. I just couldn't face another one. The new job will be similar to my old role, but more focused on content creation as opposed to project management and sales, which I'm excited about, and it doesn't have the same kind of busy season. So, better work/life balance, and I was able to negotiate a small raise, too. I start May 4!

And since I don't have much going on today, I finished the last three volumes of Paper Girls. Reviews to come! I had originally only purchased the first three volumes, and was frustrated that I'd have to wait until the next three shipped if I ordered them -- but then I discovered the library has them through Hoopla, so I was able to download all three right away.

Congratulations! I hope you love your new job.
And have a Happy Easter!

Congrats! It's nice that some places still are hiring during this mess. I hope the new job is as good as you hope it will be.

>212 mstrust: Thanks, Jennifer! I hope so too. Happy Easter to you as well!

>213 libraryperilous: Thanks, Diana :) I know, it's ridiculous that I job searched on and off for a year and only managed to get hired in the middle of of a global pandemic.

42 books read: Paper Girls: Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan

Now in a future closer to their own time, the girls encounter one of their future selves and bring her along for the ride. Plus, they meet someone who can tell them a little more about what's going on. But is she a friend?

OK, these DEFINITELY just get better and better. 4 stars.

43 books read: Paper Girls: Volume 5 by Brian K. Vaughan

In the distant future, the girls get some more insight into who exactly is behind all this mess, and encounter somebody unexpected from the past.

Still going strong. This series is a masterful weaving of timelines. 4 stars.

44 books read: Paper Girls: Volume 6 by Brian K. Vaughan

As the events of the story come to an end and different timelines converge, the girls start to worry that they won't be friends when all is sad and done.

A solid finale, and everything is wrapped in a bow at the end. I'm really glad I read these all so quickly in a row; it's really all one continuous story, and there's so much going on that they need to be read in pretty quick succession. Overall, I really enjoyed these quick reads; I got a very Stranger Things-but-with-girls vibe, which is totally a good thing. The story arc felt fun and fresh and I enjoyed being thrown headfirst into a new world and reading furiously to figure out what on earth was going on. 4 stars for this entry, and 4 stars overall.

I wanted my message this year to be fairly universal in a time we all should be pulling together, whatever our beliefs. Happy Celebration, Happy Sunday, Natalie.

Congratulations Natalie!

Fine - I’ll look for Paper Girls. I hope you’re happy.

>218 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul, happy Easter!

>219 humouress: Thanks, Nina! Yes, very happy :) I hope you love Paper Girls!

45 books read: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling

Transitioned to the regular, non-illustrated editions to continue my reread. Wonderful as always. This used to be my favorite book in the series; I guess angsty!Harry really appealed to teenage me? I still love it -- there are some really fantastic bits in this entry (The DA, Fred and George's exit, exploring and cleaning Grimmauld Place), but I did find myself more annoyed with Harry than in previous readings. I guess I'll have to keep reading to see if it's still my favorite! Right now, book 3 is the candidate to usurp that spot.

Congratulations on the new job!

>202 curioussquared: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Natalie!

>204 curioussquared: I am going to have to try some of Guillory's books. They look like perfect reading for right now.

>208 curioussquared: I liked that one - I also rated it 4 stars - but unfortunately my local library only has the one volume.

>211 curioussquared: Congratulations, Natalie! I am so glad to hear that your new job will allow you to stay less stressed for those 3-4 months!

>221 curioussquared: Book three is my favorite. It has it all: my favorite character, my favorite magical being, my favorite magical object, and a seriously good story. Plus, "Mischief managed" is just such a cool thing to get to say.

re: angsty Harry, I remember reading a lukewarm review of either Order or Goblet: "Still, his name's not Harry Snotter." The critic was a bit annoyed that Harry was full of raging hormones.

>221 curioussquared: >224 libraryperilous: Each to their own. My nieces loved Dobby so much they named their huge Bernese dog after him over my not-so-silent objections. I found him a bit too servile and - though I didn’t especially like him per se, I could see Kreacher’s point of view.

>222 foggidawn: Thanks, Foggi!

>223 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia! Happy to keep adding to the BlackHole :)

>224 libraryperilous: Book three certainly has a lot going for it. Who is your favorite magical being? I always sort of enjoyed that book 3 is a bit of a break from the pattern of encountering Voldemort at the end, but the stakes still feel just as high. And LOL at Harry Snotter. The gap between the release dates of Book 5 and Book 6 is when I got really into Harry Potter fanfiction as a teenager so that might have had something to do with why it was my favorite.

>225 humouress: Dobby is fine, but he's definitely not my favorite. It is a hilarious name for a Bernese Mountain Dog, though!

>226 curioussquared: I want a hippogriff! And a marauder's map.

bit of a break from the pattern of encountering Voldemort at the end, but the stakes still feel just as high

This is a good way to put it. It's kind of a whimsical book, in that there's just a lot of adventuring in it, but it has a slightly wistful tone, too, especially toward the end.

>225 humouress: I had never heard of this breed (cat person here!) They look like big and stately piles of floof. Super cute!

>227 libraryperilous: I do love Buckbeak. Bernese Mountain Dogs may look stately but I think they are closer to being goofy piles of floof. They're great dogs!

46 books read: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

In this alternate universe, Donald Trump was never elected, and Alex Claremont-Diaz is the first son of the first female president of the United States. He's always had a sort of... rivalry? arch-nemesis thing? going on with Prince Henry, grandson of the queen of England, and it only gets worse when he and Henry get in an argument and topple into Henry's brother's $75,000 wedding cake, creating a PR disaster. To patch things up, Alex is sent to the UK for a weekend to spend time with Henry and create the public perception that they're actually best buds, even though they can barely stand each other. The weekend is a success, and Alex gives Henry his number so they can set up more PR opportunities themselves later instead of waiting for their staff to do it. But then Henry texts Alex out of the blue one day, and the two start texting regularly. Soon, they're chatting all the time, they're not faking the friendship thing anymore, and it seems like they might be becoming more than friends...

Oops, I did it again? I read this book for the first time less than a year ago, but I recently bought myself a copy and felt immediately driven to pick it up again. I just love it so much -- it's such a comforting universe with characters I want as my best friends (but I'm not sure if I'm cool or smart enough to be their friends!). They feel like real people I would hang out with. I will say that this reads like YA to me, even though the characters are in their early 20s, but there are definitely some aspects that make it solidly an adult novel with YA appeal. Recommended if you like the West Wing and fun, fluffy romances. Five stars.

Did I mention I ordered more books? #cantstopwontstop

From Barnes and Noble, just because I found some ancient gift cards that needed to be used:
Gideon the Ninth
Lovely War
Daisy Jones and the Six

And from Secret Garden Books, a lovely local shop with a heavy focus on children's and YA lit:
The Empress of Salt and Fortune (thanks Diana for the rec!)
Black Leopard, Red Wolf
Havenfall

Secret Garden is much smaller than my other favorite local shop, Third Place Books, and I imagine they're getting a lot less business, so I might try to send more orders their way if I decide I need even more books. Lol.

>230 curioussquared: Oh, I hope you like it. I'm trying to restrain myself from reading it again too soon.

Congrats on the new job! That's awesome news.

Also happy to see that you binged and enjoyed Paper Girls. I can't imagine what the reading experience was like if you got in on the ground floor of the series when it started.

I think my favourite part of The Order of the Phoenix is all the stuff in the Ministry at the end. Just so cool. My favourite book of the series is Half-Blood Prince - mostly for the pensieve stuff, which I find fascinating.

>232 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! Yes, I'm very glad I didn't start Paper Girls until they were all released... I honestly feel like I would have had trouble following what was going on.

I love the Ministry stuff, too. Whenever Rowling has a chance to show off just how deep her worldbuilding is, I love it.

47 books read: Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Abilene has lived most of her life hopping trains with her daddy and wandering from place to place. But this summer, her daddy has a mining job and she can't stay with him, so he sends her to the town of Manifest to spend the summer with Shady, the town preacher, who he knew when he was young. Abilene spends the summer getting to know the town and its inhabitants and solving a long-ago mystery with her new friends -- and learning about her father's place in the town's history.

This Newbery winner never really grabbed me. It wasn't a bad story, I just wasn't super interested, and I can see a lot of kids losing interest early on, too. 3 stars.

Glad to see you are keeping the reading up, Natalie! And congrats on the new job!

>235 ronincats: Thanks, Roni!

48 books read: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

After staying late at her job one night, April May is headed toward the subway to go home and get some sleep when her Metrocard doesn't work. She turns around to get her spare from her office, but before she can get there, she runs into a strange 10 foot tall statue of an armored guy that wasn't there when she left earlier. Aware that something weird is going on, she calls her friend Andy to shoot a video with the statue, who she dubs Carl.
When she wakes up the next morning, everything has changed. Their video went viral -- it turns out most major world cities also suddenly got a Carl around 3am last night, and nobody knows how they got there or saw them appearing or getting installed. Soon, April finds herself deeply embroiled in finding out what the Carls are, where they come from, and if they mean any harm.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would! I'm a big John Green fan and have been aware of his brother Hank for years through their Vlogbrothers and other internet projects. When Hank announced his book, I wasn't particularly excited about it, and it didn't sound super interesting to me or get great reviews. But, they we chose it for book club, so I finally picked it up... and couldn't put it down. It's not my favorite book ever, and I didn't like April, but it's certainly compelling. I AM mad that I'm going to have to read the sequel, though, after the very cliffhanger-y ending. 3.5 stars.

49 books read: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

In late December, while their daughter Quintana is in the ICU fighting pneumonia, Joan Didion's husband John suddenly passes away at the dinner table from some kind of cardiac event. In this memoir of the year after his death, Joan struggles to make sense of it all and to make sense of grief and mourning.

I am so glad I gave Joan Didion another try. I did NOT like Slouching Toward Bethlehem, but this memoir seemed different enough that I thought I'd try it. It is so well done, so raw. I don't want to say I loved it, because it's tough subject matter, but it captures its subject perfectly. 4 stars.

50 books read: The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White

Guinevere is on her way to Camelot, where magic is banned, to wed Arthur, her king. The only thing is... she's not really Guinevere, and she practices magic. At Camelot, everything is not as it seems, and Guinevere struggles to find her place and figure out who she can trust.

Ugh, this was SO good. It's so rare to read something Arthurian that feels totally new, and White has done it with this book. I loved her Guinevere and Arthur and didn't want to stop reading. I don't want to give too much away, but I was surprised again and again. The ending made it clear the story is not over and definitely made me want to keep reading the sequel (which is coming out in 2020 so not too long a wait!) but didn't frustrate me in the same way that the cliffhanger An Absolutely Remarkable Thing did, which I think is the proper way to write a series. 4.5 stars, recommended.

>239 curioussquared: I'm not a fan of Arthuriana (except The Idylls of the Queen, an all-time favorite), but your review has me intrigued. Is the book too YA-ish (for me, lol)?

I've started rereading Murderbot in preparation for Network Effect, which I've already preordered. So excited :D

>240 libraryperilous: No, I think you might like it! I honestly think the cover (which I like, but is definitely targeted for a specific audience) is the most YA thing about the book.

>241 curioussquared: You saw that tor.com is giving away the novellas this week in their e-book club?

>243 ronincats: I did, thank you! I would totally take advantage of the offer but my fiance already bought all of them and we share Kindle libraries. I told all my friends, though!

>242 curioussquared: The cover is lovely. It also definitely says, "Buy me if you like young adult fantasy romances!"

I've added it to my TBR on your recommendation. :)

>241 curioussquared: My library doesn't add books to their system until the day they release, so I am going to have to scrum for it at 9 AM on May 5th. Can't wait, especially because ART is back.

>245 libraryperilous: I love ART. I finished rereading All Systems Red yesterday and continued on to Artificial Condition, and ART definitely makes the whole book.

>246 curioussquared: I am strongly considering pre-ordering the book, because I know I'll love it. I adore ART. By far my favorite character in the series, and now we have a whole novel with ART in a lot of it (I hope)!

Edited: grammatical error

>247 libraryperilous: Do it! I just took it as another opportunity to support my favorite book store. And having just finished my reread of the series, I'm even more excited :D

51 books read: All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Our hero is a security robot who calls itself Murderbot, contracted to protect a group of humans doing research on an uninhabited planet -- but nobody knows it has hacked its government module and doesn't have to obey orders. Luckily for all the humans, Murderbot would really rather not talk or see or kill any humans at all. Really, it would be great if everyone could leave it alone so it could watch more media.

I love Murderbot so much. I read the series for the first time about a year ago, and devoured them just as quickly this time. 5 stars.

52 books read: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Now on its own, Murderbot decides to explore its past and dive into its memories of the catastrophic event in its past -- which requires finding transport to the mine on the planet where it happened. Murderbot thinks it found a convenient, empty ship to take -- until it realizes the bot powering the ship is much, much smarter than Murderbot gave it credit for.

I love Murderbot, and I love ART, and I love their relationship. This one might be my favorite of the series just because of ART. So good. 5 stars.

53 books read: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

Murderbot continues to investigate GrayCris and meets another human research team on its way to Milu, a planet abandoned in the midst of terraforming. What Murderbot expects to be a quick trip ends up being much more complicated than anticipated, of course...

I love watching Murderbot grow emotionally, however reluctantly. 5 stars.

54 books read: Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

Worried about its human friends from its original contact, Murderbot heads to meet back up with them with the evidence they need in hand.

Rereading this, it really could have been the end of the Murderbot -- and I'm so glad it's not. 5 stars.

My last day of my old job was Wednesday! My coworkers were very sweet and sent me a few parting gifts, and we had a goodbye happy hour over Zoom. It's weird to leave without being able to say goodbye to anyone in person.

Now I'm on vacation until Monday May 4. With nowhere to go, I'm looking forward to fully detoxing before the new gig! So far I have productively used my time to reread Murderbot, and haven't done much of anything else. I'm planning to give the house a good clean, but I'm not in any hurry.

>253 curioussquared: Lots of time to relax and read before you start your new job. I hope you enjoy your staycation!

I've enjoyed your Murderbot reviews. I was pleasantly surprised when the novel was announced. As you've noted >252 curioussquared:, the original story arc ends. It sounds like this new plot is going to be a standalone adventure.

Huzzah for staycation!

>254 libraryperilous: >255 MickyFine: Thanks, guys! Staycation is great so far. I did almost nothing all weekend, with just enough productivity mixed in so I wouldn't feel bad about myself. Accomplishments include finishing a book, completing a puzzle that had been out on our dining room table for three weeks, watching an entire season of The West Wing, doing a little yard work, and even exercising a little.

55 books read: Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

A cleric uncovers some history while talking to an old servant of the deceased empress of salt and fortune.

What an exquisite little novella! Thanks to Diana for the recommendation :) The book is so slight that there's not much I can say without spoiling, but it's a gorgeously crafted story and a pleasure to watch unfold. 4 stars.

>257 curioussquared: I'm glad you liked it. (Also, I think the cover is gorgeous!)

The shorter length worked for me. It functioned as a very detailed fable, and the way the story unfolded gave it a puzzle element.

>258 libraryperilous: I love the cover, too! Yes, it did feel like a puzzle. It was a format I could have gotten frustrated with if the book were longer, but it worked very well as a novella.

56 books read: The Polar Bear Explorers' Club by Alex Bell

Stella has lived with her adoptive father Felix since he found her in the snow as an infant on one of his expeditions to the icelands. Their home is full of items and animals from Felix's expeditions, from the miniature dinosaurs who live in the dining room to Gruff, the polar bear they've raised from a cub. Her whole life, Stella has wanted nothing but to accompany Felix on an expedition, but the Polar Bear Explorers' Club doesn't allow girls -- no exceptions. But when circumstances change right before Felix is due to depart on his next trip, he makes the decision to bring Stella along, no matter what the rules are, and deal with the consequences.

Thanks to Rachel aktakukac for the recommendation! I'd been wanting to read this since she did, but my library only recently got it on Kindle and I'm really bad at picking up physical holds these days :) It was just as lovely as promised! The story and characters in this book are fun and enjoyable, if slightly simplistic -- it's definitely middle grade. But what makes it shine is the pure whimsy in every page. There are so many delightful details and little magical bits that I want to exist in real life. I don't want to go into more detail in case you want to read and discover for yourself, but I loved it. 4.5 stars.

57 books read: Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

With hilarious text-accompanied illustrations, Allie Brosh covers topics including depression, her two dogs, how her brain works, and her childhood.

I read all the content on Brosh's blog long ago and finally picked up this book version. While I really enjoy her stuff, I was a little disappointed that I had read the majority of the content online before (at least it seemed to me; if the new content made up a larger portion, it was similar enough to the older content that I couldn't tell it apart). There was some new content, but I don't know that it was her best stuff. Still, she's always fun to read. 3 stars.

58 books read: Loamhedge by Brian Jacques

When a young hare maid named Martha, who has been in a wheelchair since she arrived at Redwall Abbey, becomes aware of a possible cure for her disability through an old text and a message from Martin the Warrior, she wants to go investigate herself. But the cure is at Loamhedge, the ancient abbey from which the original Redwallers came, and the journey will be long, hard and dangerous. So two Redwaller adventurers set off instead, accompanied by three young Redwallers who don't quite know what they're getting into, including Martha's brother. Meanwhile, some sea otters find two badgers -- one is dead, and the other wounded in critical condition. After he is nursed back to health, the younger one, Lonna Bowstripe, vows to avenge himself on the vermin that did this to him. Along the way, he will run into some familiar faces.

This is definitely not the strongest Redwall book out there -- it's later in the series, and I'm pretty sure this is where I stopped reading as they were released. It sort of has all the hallmark elements of a Redwall book -- a journey! Evil vermin! A message from Martin the Warrior! -- without ever becoming super interesting or cohesive. However, I still enjoyed it. I think it had been long enough since I read a Redwall book that it felt comforting and familiar without needing to be super well crafted. Jacques had a formula, and it definitely worked. If I had just finished reading the first 15 books and moved on to this one, I'd probably feel differently, but reading it out of order as a standalone after a long time not reading any Redwall, it kind of worked. 3.5 stars.

59 books read: We Are the Wildcats by Siobhan Vivian

The West Essex Wildcats high school women's field hockey team has dominated for years. They're unstoppable, and their coach, a former olympic candidate until he destroyed his ACLs, is a legend in the game. Until last year -- when they choked in the championship game and came in second. Now, it's the dawn of a new season, and the girls are desperate to regain what they had and prove themselves to Coach, who, rumor has it, almost left them for a college coaching position this year. There's Mel, team captain, who just wants things to go back the way they were and for Coach to trust her again. Phoebe, Mel's best friend, whose devastating ACL injury contributed to the loss and might ruin her college career. Ali, goalkeeper, who knows she let the team down with the goals she let in. Luci, the only freshman to make varsity, who's struggling to find her place in town, let alone on the team. The Wildcats are supposed to be strong, unbreakable -- but then, why are there so many cracks?

This book was compelling, but not exactly a fun read. It's one of those books that makes you uneasy, like you're waiting for the house of cards to fall the whole time. It takes place mostly in a single day, as first cracks in the facade, then secrets and lies are uncovered to expose the problems at the core of the team. You wouldn't think a high school field hockey team could have so much drama.... but you'd be wrong. I definitely thought this would be more of a feel-good book going in, similar to Vivian's previous book, Stay Sweet. This definitely had some similar sisterhood aspects to Stay Sweet, and there was more feel-good at the end, but it took a while to get there. 3.5 stars.

I've been doing some puzzles (a classic quarantine activity) and recently bought a few. Then, a few days later, while scrolling instagram, I was hit with a targeted ad for this one. I had to buy it. It was too targeted.

I present to you: The greyhound library puzzle, completed last night.

And here's a little gratuitous greyhound cuteness for you.

>264 curioussquared: Oh, how perfect!!

Oh, nice. Big Brother Ads probably didn't have to surveil you too long to figure that one out.

Are you going to glue it and hang it?

>267 libraryperilous: Especially given that aside from friends, almost everything I follow on Instagram is dog- or book-related, lol.

I might glue it eventually, but I think I'm going to trade it to my best friend so she can do it first -- we've both been puzzling quite a bit during quarantine, and she has some to trade me as well.

I stumbled on a link to an 18,000 piece Ravensburger puzzle the other day.

Even my puzzle-loving mom seemed cowed by the thought of that one, lol.

>269 libraryperilous: LOL. No thank you. 1,000 is just about right for me.

>260 curioussquared: Ohh, I'm so glad you liked that one! I recently (somewhat recently? February? March? I can't even remember when) read the second book and thought it was just as good as the first. Pick it up when you get a chance. It's got more of the whimsical feel and is so creative. I'm looking forward to the third book this fall!

Also, congrats on the new job!!

>271 aktakukac: I'll have to look out for the sequel!! And thanks :)

60 books read: Unlikely Friendships by Jennifer S. Holland

Lots of cute stories of friendships across animal species. This was a nice little quarantine read, but I wanted more info on some of the stories -- they were almost all limited to 2-3 pages. And some were suddenly sad at the end which wasn't what I was looking for! 3 stars.

61 books read: The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

Grant, an inspector at Scotland Yard, is flat on his back in the hospital for weeks after getting injured falling through a trapdoor. Bored out of his mind with staring at the ceiling, a friend brings him some pictures to look at instead, each representing an unsolved mystery from history. Grant is captivated by the portrait of Richard III, and together with a young American researcher, he begins to unspool Richard III's story and tries to get to the bottom of how he became one of the most notorious murderers in history as the supposed killer of his two young nephews.

Such a fun mystery! Tey does an amazing job of creating a captivating tale while her protagonist doesn't move an inch. I read this on the recommendation of Suzanne in the Wolf Hall tutored read thread to learn more about Richard III, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I haven't read any of the other books about Grant, but might look into them in the future even though I'm not a huge mystery person. 4 stars.

62 books read: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling

In Harry's 6th year at Hogwarts, Voldemort is officially back, Snape has finally secured the DADA position, and Harry is juggling NEWT-level coursework with the Gryffindor Quidditch captaincy, private lessons with Dumbledore, and... romance?

Continuing the re-read. It's nice to get less angsty!Harry in this entry, and I love visiting Fred and George's joke shop and meeting new people like Slughorn. This book also has one of my favorite scenes, when Harry takes Felix Felicis to try to get the memory from Slughorn, and it's my all-time favorite scene in the movies. 5 stars.

>274 curioussquared: That was my first Tey and I loved it. I only wish I'd read it years before when my English Lit teacher was urging me to because I was the only kid in the class who had heard of the little princes in the Tower.

>276 mstrust: It was my first Tey too and I think I'll be looking for more!

I enjoyed the rest of my time off -- lots of books read. Late last week I had a sudden urge to start a new Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild game (I beat it for the first time last year) and I'm already about halfway through the main quest, oops. It's just such a good game. So, that ate into my time the last few days!

Second day of the new job and things are going well so far, but of course I'm only surface-level right now :) I went and got all my equipment yesterday and now I'm set up to work from home with computer, monitor, and all the trimmings, which is good since my new company has already announced that all employees will be working from home through September 14.

Happy to hear the first few days of work are going well!

>275 curioussquared: I am forever imitating Dan Radcliffe in that bit of HBP:

>279 MickyFine: Yes! Perfect GIF :D

I'm another struggling to adjust to work again after seven weeks at home. Sleeping patterns seem shot to pieces.

Looking forward to your new thread, Natalie. :D

>281 PaulCranswick: Ooh, good reminder, Paul. New thread soon! Maybe this weekend.

I contacted my favorite bookstore to ask when my pre-order of Network Effect would be shipped (give me my Murderbot, damn it!) and they said the publisher shipment was delayed and to check back if I hadn't received a notification it had shipped "in a few weeks."

*weeping emoji*

>283 curioussquared: Gah, wtf?! Maybe place an Overdrive hold as a backup? So sorry, and I'm sure the bookstore feels terrible, too. :(

>284 libraryperilous: I'm sure they do! All the same, this is why I usually avoid physical preorders. I'd much rather swing by the store day-of release and pick it up myself.

>285 curioussquared: Yes. Also, the spark of joy from heading to the store on the special day! I know authors say preorders are good for them, economically, but they're a bit of a buzzkill.

>226 curioussquared: >227 libraryperilous: >228 curioussquared: Yup; that pretty much sums up Dobby. He's huge, probably at least twice Jasper's size (bulk and all) but Jasper is so super-enthusiastic he'd probably scare Dobby if they met. My sister has a Japanese spitz who'd probably run rings around the two of them, though - if they could all meet.

>239 curioussquared: Oh, alright. Wish-listed.

>264 curioussquared: Perfect.

>265 curioussquared: And now I'm in love.

>274 curioussquared: I think Paul would like that one.

>287 humouress: That Skelly and Otter moment is pretty rare. Usually, if they're touching or near each other, it's not head to head -- so my heart melted a little when it happened!

>287 humouress: Yes, I approved of Ms Tey's book.